Thanks go to those who brought Missouri to Pearl
Thank you to Roy Yee and the USS Missouri Association for their courage and vision in bringing the battleship to Hawaii. It was a long, hard-fought effort to get her.I'm sure the other competing cities had compelling and legitimate reasons as to why the "Mighty Mo" should be theirs.
But the USS Missouri belongs at Pearl Harbor. At her final home on "Battleship Row," she will serve as an eternal symbol of both war and peace.
Her fallen comrades nearby at the USS Arizona, would surely be proud.
Jeff Konn
(Via the Internet)
Top-heavy DOE bureaucracy holds back improvement
Your June 15 editorial expressing "hope of reform" with the next superintendent of education was appropriately lukewarm.In my view, there is more hope than there was for Herman Aizawa at the time of his appointment. He epitomized the problem, so there was no ray of hope for reform. And that's what we got: no reform.
The new superintendent's first comments dwelt on the large number of supervisory positions to be filled immediately in the DOE. Despite having been a consultant to our department, he seems unaware that a big part of the problem has been the top-heaviness of the DOE.
He should be aware, also, that there's another great hindrance to reform: The principals are unionized. Yet we've heard no protests about that one, which is so dear to the governor and his right-hand man Charles Toguchi, himself a notably unsuccessful superintendent of education.
Robert B. Buchele
Professor of Management, Emeritus
College of Business Administration
University of Hawaii-Manoa
LeMahieu is excellent choice to run schools
I was filled with great excitement when I read that Dr. Paul LeMahieu had been appointed the new superintendent of schools for the Department of Education. He comes loaded with knowledge and expertise in the area of reform and assessment.I had the opportunity to hear him speak at a Powerful Assessments Workshop at Harvard University in 1992. I again had the opportunity to work with him when I was a counselor at Waialae School.
I was continually awed by his knowledge and expertise in the area of assessment and reform, and how he was able to convey in understandable terms these most complex processes.
He impressed me as a person who cares. He listens with the intent of helping to solve a problem. He collaborates and makes decisions with those involved in the process. He is fair, considerate and is driven by a desire to improve the system.
I welcome Dr. LeMahieu aboard and wish him much luck and success.
Lillian S. Masaki
Retired Counselor
Waialae School
Organizers of ceremony treated seniors poorly
We were invited to the public dedication ceremony of the new convention center, a sight to behold. Built for the meager sum of $350 million. Welcome and come marvel, one and all.Except, no parking. So walk or come on the bus. Residents, many of them senior citizens, hobbled down to the site.
The program was held at the building's entrance. Security guards tapped Grandma on the shoulder. They asked, "Do you have a pass?"
No? Then on sidewalk you must stand and watch. Don't fall. Hang onto Grandpa; watch your okole as the cars scrape by and, please, don't get hurt.
What a joke it was! If that is a sample of Hawaii's "Aloha Center," they can keep it!
Hiroshi Minami
Developer earned post on UH Board of Regents
It is a great honor to be appointed by the governor to the UH Board of Regents. I have a strong commitment to education and also serve on the board of my alma mater, Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. Furthermore, I've also served on Seabury Hall's Board of Trustees.On Maui, my firm has developed numerous residential neighborhoods and the Kamalii Elementary School. I'm proud that we delivered a state-of-the-art, air-conditioned facility that was $6 million under budget and five months ahead of schedule. We also developed the Kamehameha Schools' temporary campus in Pukalani.
I believe it is this track record that led my appointment to the UH board. It is misleading to imply that I was appointed because of my campaign contribution to Governor Cayetano. I have also contributed large sums to the Republican Party as well as to Maui Mayor Linda Lingle.
As for my business dealings with Joe Souki, I've always conducted my business honorably. Outside of his part-time duties in the state Legislature, the House speaker has been a respected real estate broker on Maui for about 20 years. Many seek his expertise regarding real estate.
Everett R. Dowling
Wailuku, Maui
Blacks can't afford to 'lighten up' about racism
To Chris Rafael of Waipahu (Letters, June 11), it is difficult to "lighten up" when you can be chained to the back of a pickup truck and dragged down a road with your body being ripped apart along the way.George T. Auyong
Article on Indonesia contained errors
Robert Elegant, the author of the shoddy June 13 Insight story on Suharto and Indonesia, is foreign to your pages and should have remained so. Elegant wrote:
"Aside from the chief of staff, who did not want power." This implies that the chief of staff was General Nasution. Wrong. The Army's chief was General Yani, who was one of the six generals killed by the Communist Party. His body was dumped down a well with the others.
This was part of a Soviet disinformation ploy swallowed whole by major media, who had no one on the scene to record events. Mass graves on Java, the world's most densely populated island, were never found, nor were eyewitnesses.
Clyde McAvoy
Retired diplomat who served
in Indonesia, 1961-66
Kailua
Only God should decide when people must die
I was quite bothered to learn what is being considered in my home state concerning euthanasia. Dying with dignity, physician-assisted suicide or whatever politically correct term that you use, it is wrong, evil and goes against the laws of God.My father was in pain for over a year before he passed away. He suffered more than I or anyone could've imagined, yet he died with dignity. He left this world the way he came into it -- by the hand of God.
Let's not begin something that we will surely regret. There are better ways to make life more comfortable for those suffering from a terminal illness.
Merv Kahumoku Jr.
Kodiak, Alaska
(Via the Internet)
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